STREET PEOPLE ENUMERATION 18/19

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT & EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

Terms and Definitions

• Street Person:

Refers to an individual, who for any reason use the outdoors as a place of abode for a lengthy period of time. The term “street” includes all areas of open spaces and river banks

• Day stroller:

Children and unemployed adults who come on to the streets during the day for the purpose of supplementing their income and go back to their community at night.

• Skarrel:

A colloquial term used by street persons to describe a method of income creation. This may include begging, washing and parking cars, collecting refuse items, digging through bins and pushing trolleys collecting items to be sold or recycled.

• Hot spot:

An area where there are regular complaints about street people or large concentrations of street people. For this study a hotspot refers to a space occupied by 30 or more street people.

• Shelter:

Temporary residence for homeless people.

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Background

• The Social Development and Early Childhood Development Department

(SD&ECD) aims to give effect to the Strategic Focus Area of the “Caring City”

which sets out the aim to effectively reduce the number of people living,

sleeping and surviving on the streets, and to ensuring that street people are

given the necessary developmental assistance to achieve reintegration,

accommodation and employment.”

• According to a 2008 Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) study, South

Africa consists of approximately 200 000 absolute street people, a significant

portion of the country’s population of 53.5 million (Rule-Groenewald et al.,

2015).

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Aims and Objectives

• The objectives of the study were to:

Determine the number of people living and sleeping on the streets or shelters

in the City of Cape Town.

Determine the hotspot locations of street people in the City of Cape Town

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Research Design

• Cross-sectional observational approach:

A cross-sectional study measures the prevalence of a population of interest at a specific

point in time. Often described as a “snapshot” of a population and is conducted in the

form of a survey.

Observational research is an approach in which descriptive information is recorded by

observing subjects in their natural setting, with no interaction required between the

observer and the subject.

Period Prevalence Count: minimize the risk of a misrepresentation of homeless populations

as the extended timeframe allows for a more thorough coverage of an area when

searching for homeless persons (NCH, 2007)

• Target Population:

Individuals who sleep on the street one or more nights of the week

Individuals utilizing shelters or transitional facilities (Ark, MES, Safe Space)

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Data Collection

• The Enumeration took place between the 13th-30th November 2018.

• Enumeration teams were divided in the following way:

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Team 1

•SDECD Research Staff

•1 EPWP Team Leader

•10 EPWP Fieldworkers

Team 2

•SDECD Research Staff

•1 EPWP Team Leader

•10 EPWP Fieldworkers

Team 3

•SDECD Research Staff

•1 EPWP Team Leader

•10 EPWP Fieldworkers

Team 4

•SDECD Research Staff

•1 EPWP Team Leader

•10 EPWP Fieldworkers

Support Staff

Safety and Security Staff

SDECD Field Officers

GIS Support

KEY FINDINGS

Overview

8

64.8%

33.7%

1.5%Street homeless

Sheltered homeless

Estimated homeless personsin crime hotspots

Total Homeless Persons Enumerated

Frequency Percentage of

Enumerated

Street homeless 3 999 64.8

Estimated homeless persons in

crime hotspots

92 1.5

Sheltered homeless 2 084 33.7

Grand Total 6 175 100.0

Crime Suburbs

9

• Suburbs not entered

• Estimates provided by Law Enforcement and SPU officials

• Zero denotes that

no estimate was available

Area Suburb Estimated Total

Area Central

Manenberg 50

Bonteheuwel 7

Belhar 5

Delft 5

Area North Kraaifontein 25

Area East Macassar 0

Area South

Pelikan Park 0

Philipi 0

Lavender Hill 0

Strandfontein 0

Total 92

Demographics: Living and sleeping on the street

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7.3%

33.7%

29.0%

8.6%

2.5%0.2%

18 - 25 26 - 35 36 - 45 46 - 55 56 - 65 66+

Age

26.1%

55.1%

4.0%

14.7%

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

Black African Coloured White Unspecified

Race

Area Stats

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Area North

reportedly has the

highest number of

street people (45%)

1796

292

965 946

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

AREA NORTH AREA EAST AREA CENTRAL AREA SOUTH

Per Area

Top 20 Wards

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Top 5 Subcouncils

13

307

1275

358292 276

20 (SOUTH) 16 (NORTH) 6 (CENTRAL) 12 (SOUTH) 4 (CENTRAL)

No. of Street

People

Subcouncil

Top 5 Subcouncils

Top 3 Major Suburbs Comparison

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MAJOR SUBURB NO OF STREET PEOPLE

Cape Town 871

Mitchells Plain 368

Bellville 333

Top 3 Sub-Places

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No. of Street People

Major Suburb Suburb 2018

Cape Town Cape Town City Centre

Foreshore

Zonnebloem

377

178

118

Mitchells Plain Mitchells Plain CBD

Tafelsig

Lentegeur

134

106

54

Bellville Transnet Marshalling Yard

Hardekraaltjie

205

74

Sheltered Homeless Findings

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Area Shelter Frequency Bed Space

Utilisation vs

Capacity (%)

North Loaves & Fishes 33 35 94%

Youth Solutions 53 60 88%

Beth Rogelim 89 100 89%

Haven (District Six) 91 80 113%

Haven (Kensington) 45 60 75%

Haven (Kraaifontein) 80 92 87%

Haven (Moira HH) 58 135 43%

Haven (Napier St.) 119 95 125%

Culemborg Safe Space 199 230 86%

Central Elim Night Shelter 33 70 47%

MES 131 63 207%

OWL Haven Shelter 54 80 67%

Haven (Bellville) 67 58 115%

South Happy Valley 63 65 97%

OASIS 13 20 65%

Haven (Claremont) 36 15 240%

Haven (Kalk Bay) 19 18 105%

Haven (Retreat) 26 76 34%

Haven (Wynberg) 33 40 82.5%

East SW Night Shelter 37 54 69%

The Ark 805 1000 80.5%

Total 2 084

Demographics: Sheltered homeless

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The majority of homeless persons utilizing shelters are males (78%), adults and reported to be

predominantly Coloured.

.2%

23.4%

46.8%

3.8%.6%

25.3%

.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

50.0

ASIAN BLACK

AFRICAN

COLOURED FOREIGNER INDIAN WHITE

Race

6.6%

21.7%24.2% 23.6%

15.2%

7.5%

.9%

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

18-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 66+ UNKNOWN

Age

Location & Activity Observed

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Places observed Frequency Percent

Abandoned

building94 2.4

Beach 62 1.6

Bus shelter 130 3.3

Bush 150 3.8

Fountains 6 .2

Intersection 12 .3

Liquor store 9 .2

Monuments 8 .2

Open Spaces 484 12.2

Other 65 1.6

Outside Police

Station45 1.1

Parking lot 312 7.8

Pavement 1 627 40.9

Religious institution 10 .3

Shopfront 60 1.5

Shopping mall 60 1.5

Taxi rank 43 1.1

Tourism Hotspots 17 .4

Traffic lights 22 .6

Train station 103 2.6

Bridge 566 14.2

Unspecified 114 2.9

Total 3 999 100.0

Activity observed Frequency Percent

Aggression15 .4

Begging37 .9

Gambling8 .2

Inebriated6 .2

Openly using

substances 50 1.3

Other23 .6

Sitting632 15.9

Skarreling501 12.6

Sleeping2 036 51.1

Strolling448 11.3

Unspecified123 3.1

Waste Picking120 3.0

Total3 999 100.0

EPIC Complaints Record – Nov 2018

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Major Suburb Complaints

AIRPORT 1

ATHLONE 28

BELLVILLE 24

BERGVLIET 17

BISHOP LAVIS 1

BLACKHEATH 3

BLOUBERG 6

BRACKENFELL 3

BROOKLYN 6

CAMPS BAY 8

CAPE FARMS 3

CAPE POINT 1

CAPE TOWN 193

CONSTANTIA 3

DURBANVILLE 23

EERSTE RIVER 1

ELSIES RIVER 9

EVERSDAL 5

FISH HOEK 5

GOODWOOD 61

GORDONS BAY 9

GRASSY PARK 6

GREEN POINT 8

HOUT BAY 14

JOOSTENBERG VLAKTE 1

KALKSTEENFONTEIN 3

KENRIDGE 8

KOMMETJIE 2

KRAAIFONTEIN 12

KUILS RIVER 15

KUILSRIVER 4

LANSDOWNE 1

MAITLAND 3

MILNERTON 31

MITCHELLS PLAIN 10

MUIZENBERG 17

NEWLANDS 65

OBSERVATORY 7

OTTERY 11

PAARDEN EILAND 1

PAROW 34

PELIKAN PARK 1

PINELANDS 4

PLATTEKLOOF 5

PLUMSTEAD 34

RETREAT 4

RONDEBOSCH 4

SEA POINT 18

SIMONS TOWN 5

SOMERSET WEST 28

STRAND 20

TABLE MOUNTAIN 3

TABLE VIEW 26

TOKAI 1

VREDEKLOOF 2

WELGEMOED 15

WYNBERG 27

TOTAL 629

Top 10 areas with highest EPIC Complaints vs Enumerated

Street People

20

193

65 6134 34 31 28 28 27 26

871

31

170125

830

307

113

170136

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

EPIC Complaints vs Enumerated

Complaints Enumerated

LIMITATIONS

• Areas or spaces that Law Enforcement advised as dangerous, due to high

levels of crime or gang violence, were entered with caution or completely

avoided wherein homeless persons could not be enumerated. However, the

SD&ECD Street People Unit provided the Research Unit with an estimated

number of street people found in the areas that were not covered

• As street people move around, there is a possibility that some individuals may

have relocated to previously enumerated areas, resulting in an under-count

or over-count in certain areas

• The number of street people counted in this study is a reflection of the

homeless situation during the month of November 2018. These numbers may

fluctuate seasonally and therefore cannot be generalized

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RECOMMENDATIONS

• Policy Improvement

▫ Homelessness enumeration findings can be used to drive policy change

and identify where funds and resources need to be allocated e.g. safe

spaces.

▫ Homeless population statistics will enable all levels of government to make

necessary policy changes aimed at increasing or improving initiatives to

manage the homeless situation in the City of Cape Town.

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• Future Interventions

▫ Future initiatives should focus on the holistic development of street people in order to increase

reintegration rates.

▫ Initiatives should be tailored to address newly homeless people to avoid them acclimatizing to

the streets vs chronic homeless persons requiring intense and prolonged assistance.

▫ An effective crisis response system and emergency beds should be implemented for newly

homeless people with an established point of contact

▫ Initiatives should provide assistance for the most vulnerable through long term social housing

and support services.

• Future Enumerations

▫ It is recommended for future research that biannual or seasonal Point-in-Time (PIT) counts be

conducted in order to make a comparison of findings.

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Thank You

Insert: For queries contact (insert name.surname@capetown.gov.za)